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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27597730">The Hunger Games</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineYuta/pseuds/SunshineYuta'>SunshineYuta</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Bottom Nakamoto Yuta, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Soft Nakamoto Yuta, Top Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:29:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,549</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27597730</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineYuta/pseuds/SunshineYuta</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Chances of returning home together is low but never zero</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Nakamoto Yuta</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yuta woke up early to Rapunzel meowing. The furry cat jumped on top of him. Yuta groaned. Rapunzel meowed again and nudges his hands, urging the boy to wake up.</p><p>“Fine…I’ll wake up”He sighs as he stood up.</p><p>Realization hits him fast when he saw his fanciest pair of shirt and pants being hung neatly in front of  the old wooden wardrobe. Yuta took a step back.</p><p>
  <em>Reaping Day. The Hunger Games.</em>
</p><p>The yearly event of reaping 2 kids age 12-18 from each districts. The old rules was Male and Female but now it depends of whoever being reaped on those one big bowl instead of two. To battle inside the gruesome arena,fighting to death. Winners will go home with pride and prized money that will last longer than your life. Losers will go home inside a fancy capitol-made white casket.</p><p>Yuta swing his legs off the bed. Roughly grabbing his old leather boots and pull out his favorite hoodie out of the wardrobe and wore it. On the table, his mother has already prepared a fresh loaf of bread that is freshly baked. Mrs. Nakamoto is nowhere to be seen. Probably on the bakery, Yuta thinks. Yuta took the fresh loaf and put it inside his bag as he walked outside.</p><p>The part of District 12 where Yuta and his mom resides is called Seam. Their family owns a bakery near the square but they reside in the poorest part of district 12 even though the Nakamoto are classified as merchants and usually only coal miners and poor people resides there. The best part of living in Seam for Yuta is that Yuta only has to pass a few gates to reach the Meadow. There’s a high fence with barbed wire on top of it to separate the Meadow from the woods. The fence are usually electrified with electricity to keep the predator of the woods away from District 12 but the peacekeepers of District 12 didn’t care much about the fence. They are considered lucky to get two to three hour of electricity in the evenings so most of the time it’s safe to touch.</p><p>There’s a small stretch part of the wire that has been loose for years. Yuta usually slide under the loose part and enter the woods from there then ran inside the woods. As soon as he reached the trees,he retrieved his bow and arrows from a hollow part of the log.</p><p>Inside the woods, Everyone can roam freely even though there are still danger lurking like venomous snake, poisonous plants, being lost in the woods,and rabid animals. But there’s also tons of foods inside the woods. Yuta’s father taught him how to hunt and look for edible plants before he died inside a fire. Yuta was 9 when his father died. It has been 7 years and he still woke up from nightmares constantly and crying himself to sleep.</p><p>Trespassing is considered illegal and can lead to several brutal punishment. Most wouldn’t go near the woods with only bare minimum weapons like knifes. Yuta’s set of bow and arrows are considered rare. It was made by his father and hid well inside the hollow part of the log,wrapped tightly inside a waterproof cover. Most of the peacekeepers in District 12 don’t even care for people who hunt in the woods because they crave meat just like other residents. In fact,they are the best customers around.</p><p>When he was younger,Yuta was a curious naughty little boy who asked a lot of things he shouldn’t know and cursed the country but soon he realized that he should mind his own business after seeing an old man getting executed publicly by the peacekeepers after trying to spark rebellion in the district. One thing Yuta  realized is that small people like him trying to fought off the big tyrant capitalistic nation like Panem is useless. The bigger power will always have the power to shut him down. As he value his life more since then, Yuta mind his business completely. Doing nicely in school, helping his mom by selling some meats in the Hob, the infamous District 12 black market. Even at home, he avoid discussing such topics because his mother hates it a lot.</p><p>Yuta smiled brightly as he saw the tall guy who lean against the tree. Ji Hansol. Yuta can feel his body relaxing. Yuta ran to Hansol. Hansol smiled as he hugged Yuta.</p><p>“You look so excited for the fourth reaping” Yuta playfully hit Hansol.</p><p>“Shut up. I know last year was your last” Hansol chuckled.</p><p>“I caught some for us. Chill. Let’s sit down” Hansol pulled Yuta to sit beside him. The younger opened his bag and offered a loaf of bread to Hansol. Hansol laughed.</p><p> “That’s a good one!”</p><p>They ate in silence. Enjoying the peaceful morning forest. “How is your shop doing?” Yuta asked. Hansol’s parents owns a boutique. Only the higher ups can buy it of course.</p><p>“The Mayor’s son seems to not be ordering for quite a long time”Yuta stared at Hansol.</p><p>“Jaehyun?”Hansol nods. Jung Jaehyun is the mayor’s son. The sporty,smart kid in the district’s school. A lot of people crushed on him. He is 2 years older than Yuta which means it’s his last year today. Yuta sold cherries to him. He’s handsome but a quite one.</p><p>Yuta’s train of thoughts were stopped by Hansol nudging him and offering him cherries.</p><p>“Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in-“ Hansol pinched Yuta’s cheeks. Yuta whined. “your favor” They plopped the cherries in at the same time. The sweet and sour taste exploded in his mouth like a cherry bomb.</p><p>They continue to busily munch their breakfast again. Yuta enjoys this kind of breakfast and being in the nature. The fresh smell of grass. He loved it.</p><p>“If you could ran away, would you?”Asked Hansol out of nowhere.</p><p>Yuta stared at him. “You and I. We could just ran off to the woods”Hansol continues</p><p>“Sorry I’m not that crazy”Yuta nervously chuckled. He is not ready for Hansol’s bullshit on the day of the reaping.</p><p>“I don’t want to get married”</p><p>“Well I want”Hansol stared at Yuta</p><p>“Then that’s your problem”Yuta munched the last piece of his bread.</p><p>Hansol awkwardly coughs. Yuta didn’t want to marry. He had zero interest on the word ‘marriage’ and he didn’t care much about it. Hansol is good-looking enough to find a decent person and marry. Yuta didn’t care much to find a good person to be his life partner. Having a family in District 12 sounds like a burden to Yuta.</p><p>“What do you want to do?”Yuta asked Hansol.</p><p>“I sold some to your mom. You got enough already. We can just chill”Hansol smiled.</p><p>“But I’m bored”</p><p>Hansol stood up. “Hunt for cherries and sold them to your friend?” Yuta nods.</p><p>“He is your friend?”</p><p>Yuta shrugged. “I think so. He bought a lot and he is nice”</p><p>They started to collect a lot of cherries and berries. They collect one bag of cherries. They went out of the wood. On the way home, Yuta and Hansol went to the back door of the mayor’s house to sell the cherries. Yuta knocked on the door. The door opens revealing Jaehyun still in his casual clothes. Yuta waved.</p><p>“Cherries for today?”Jaehyun nods. “Of course” He grabbed the bag of cherries from Yuta’s hands.</p><p>“You look under dressed for today”Yuta casually comments. Jaehyun grins. “It’s not yet the time to get dress”</p><p>“Because obviously he doesn’t need to work,Yuta”Hansol snapped. Yuta glares at Hansol. Jaehyun stared at Hansol with a straight face.</p><p>“Well it’s normal to be on your pajamas on Sunday morning,Hansol”Yuta retorts.</p><p>“He wouldn’t have to worry. Last reaping. He won’t get picked”Hansol talked as if Jaehyun is not there. Jaehyun stayed silent. While Yuta is very annoyed by Hansol’s unnecessary comments.</p><p>“Shut up,Hansol”Yuta snapped back at Hansol. Jaehyun taps Yuta’s shoulder.</p><p>“Yuta?”Yuta turns around.</p><p>“Sorry-“</p><p>“It’s fine. Thank you for the cherries. Jisung would love it” Jaehyun smiled. He waved back and went inside again.</p><p>Yuta feel like Hansol is going over the lines today. It’s not Jaehyun’s fault even though he is right. Your name get inside the bowl once during the first year and gets add one more each time you aged. But poor people in the districts can add their name more into the bowl in exchange for some grains and oil for one person. That system is called Tesserae. Yuta and Hansol both didn’t need to add their names to the bowl because they are merchants but poor people needed to add their name more for grains and oil and making them more vulnerable to be picked.</p><p>Yuta understands that seeing someone like Jaehyun,pisses him off because of the privilege Jaehyun had. But still the anger is unnecessary to be directed towards Jaehyun. We walked silently to our houses.</p><p>“See you later?”</p><p>“Wear something nice”Hansol walked inside his house.</p><p>Yuta opens the door. His mom is looking more worried than ever. She is already dressed and is now drinking tea.</p><p>“Yuta!”His mother exclaimed.</p><p>“Yes mum?”He took his leather jacket off. He smiled at his mother. Yuta’s mother caresses Yuta’s hair. She smiled.</p><p>“Go get ready. Hang on for 2 more reapings yeah?”Yuta nods.</p><p>He knew his mother is very worried about him each time the reaping came. His mother only has Yuta after Yuta’s dad died. That makes Mrs.Nakamoto more attached to Yuta since then.</p><p>A tub of warm water awaits Yuta in the bathroom. Yuta scrub all the dirts and washed his hair. The warm water calmed him down. Yuta came out of the bathroom and wore his reaping clothes. He dried his hair casually and came out. His mom as usual didn’t say a lot of things but grabbed his hands and smiled.</p><p>“You look just like your dad”</p><p>A small comment his mom always made about him before the reaping day. Yuta and his mom. There is always some wall between them. Yuta loves her but there’s just this big wall between both of them.</p><p>He and his mom walked to the Square as the clock points at 1. Attendance is mandatory. Every resident of District 12 must attend the reaping. Unless they had some chronic illness or dying. People can be imprisoned by not attending the reaping.</p><p>The Square used to be bright and full of festive during normal days. But now it’s just plain square with tense air and camera crews on the rooftops to add more unpleasant feeling. The reaping is a nice way for the Capitol to keep track off the population. Everyone are sorted to roped areas by ages. Family members are lined up in the back.</p><p>Yuta walked inside the roped areas and line up neatly. The space gets much tighter as a lot of people his age fill in the area. Yuta started to feel dizzy. The tension and the hot air made him feel nauseous. Yuta stared blankly at the stage that is temporarily set up in front of the Justice Building. There are several things like three chairs,a podium,and a large glass bowl. Yuta stared at that big bowl. There’s 4 paper containing his name in that bowl.</p><p>Chances are low but never zero.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>He has two choices.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mayor Jung, Jaehyun’s father came out with the usual District 12’s escort, Ten,who flashed a bright smile towards the gloomy crowd. Ten, as usual, bleaching his hair to a bright blonde and a bright purple clothes. They whispered to each other politely. A few minutes later, a tall guy wearing casual black suit stepped on the stage. Johnny Suh, the last winner of District 12. He sat beside Ten.</p><p>As the clock strikes two, Mayor Jung steps up into the podium and began to read the boring history of Panem. The same propaganda that is told to everyone, every year. The origin story of Panem,the story of the Dark Days. The same exact story being repeated every single year. Twelve districts were defeated, the thirteenth destroyed after the rebellion. The Treaty of Treasons gave the new laws to guarantee peace and as a reminder the Dark Days cannot be repeated, Hunger Games were made.</p><p>To the winner’s district,they will give the district a lot of gifts, grains, and oil for a whole year and let the other district suffered and starved to death. The Mayor proceeds to introduce Johnny and the lists of winner. District 12 only has two, the last one died last year. Yuta sighed when the mayor finally introduces Ten and Ten starts his speech with his iconic line.</p><p>“Happy Hunger Games and may the odd be ever in your favor”Ten flashes everyone with his brightest smile. Ten is the least eccentric escort. He still look flashy but Ten is nice. He just experiments a lot with his style and hair. But not like the other escort who dyed their whole body.</p><p>Yuta bit his lips as he saw Ten smile and walk to the big bowl. Yuta shut his eyes tightly. He starts to have trouble breathing.</p><p>“Not me…not me..not me..”Yuta whispered silently as he is about to cry.</p><p>Ten grabbed a paper and opened it carefully.</p><p>“Nakamoto  Yuta”</p><p>He felt like every single energy on his body is gone. He felt like Ten’s words knocked every air out of his lungs. Yuta suddenly forgot how to breathe and how to speak.</p><p>“Nakamoto Yuta?Where are you,sweetie?”</p><p>There’s only 6 Yutas in thousands, ten-thousands or maybe hundred thousands. The odds are not on Yuta’s favor this year. He heard his name being called once again. He walked out of his group. Everyone is staring at him. Yuta didn’t feel anything. He didn’t feel like he is breathing. His whole body is numb.</p><p>Ten grabbed his hands and pull him to the stage. Ten whispered at him.</p><p>“Sweetie..I’m so sorry..”Then back to his usual smile.</p><p>His face is pale and his hands are trembling so much. Yuta feels like he’s about to really cry.</p><p>“Any volunteers?”Ten asks. Just a mere formality. No one in District 12 would volunteer for him. The crowd is silent. They just look down. District 12 hasn’t had any volunteer in decades. And Yuta is just another tribute that is going to die in the arena.</p><p>“On to the next tribute”</p><p>Ten moves back to the bowl again. Yuta looks down. Crying in front of the capitol is just not it. You’ll become a laughing stock in front of the whole nation. Yuta heard a soft sound of paper being ripped open.</p><p>“Jung Jaehyun”</p><p>Yuta looks up. He stared at the paper Ten was holding in shock. Mayor Jung’s is also in shock. He sigh heavily. Yuta stared at Jaehyun who immediately walk out of his row and walk to the stage. Ten does the same thing for Jaehyun. Jaehyun glanced at Yuta for a second before looking forward.</p><p>As part of the protocols,Ten asks if there’s anybody who wants to volunteer but no one raised their voice. Jaehyun is an only child eligible for reaping in his family. Jisung is 1 year away from reaping. The mayor continues to read the Treaty of Treason. He sounds very depressed and Yuta pity him because his son may or may not come back and he’s gonna still do his job and serve the Capitol. The mayor finishes the long Treaty of Treason. He gestures us to shake hands. Jaehyun’s squeezed Yuta’s hands. Meaning to give him reassurance because Yuta looked as pale as a paper. They both look at each other right in the eyes.</p><p>They turn back to the crowd as the anthem of Panem plays.</p><p>They are pushed into the same room. Yuta and Jaehyun sat in silence. There’s a wide gap between them sitting. It’s the fanciest place both have ever been. Thick soft carpet, velvet couch, chandeliers and more fancy things. The door opens. Yuta saw Hansol, his mom, Mayor Jung, his wife and Jaehyun’s brother, Jisung.</p><p>It was silent. Yuta just felt his mom hugs. A hug he’s going to miss. And Hansol staring at him. His mom let go of the hug. They sat down for the first time.</p><p>“Listen. You can win. You are brave and fast. Just get any weapons. Bow and arrows are the best but some sword or knife is not bad. Find water-“</p><p>“I can’t win”Yuta realized he speak loud enough for the whole room to hear.</p><p>Mrs. Nakamoto squeezed his son’s hands.</p><p>Yuta sighed. “I’ll try”</p><p>Hansol smiled at him and hugged him.</p><p>On the other side,Jisung is the only one who hugs Jaehyun tightly. Mr. Jung and his wife awkwardly exchange words with their son. They are never too close with each other. Jaehyun is fine with it. He pats his brother head. His brother is already teary.</p><p>“Come  home and win”Jaehyun chuckled</p><p>“Maybe I can and we could be rich”Jisung shook his head.</p><p>“Money is not important. I just want you back”</p><p>Jaehyun goes silent with that. He glanced over to Yuta, Mrs. Nakamoto and Hansol. Hansol hugged Yuta. Jaehyun felt weird seeing them hugging.</p><p>“Time is over”The stern voice of the peacekeepers snapped him out of his train of thoughts.</p><p>Jaehyun’s parents left just like that. Jisung hugged Jaehyun tight before going. Both of the tributes were left in the room. Yuta directly sit down. He can’t feel anything. His hands are already shaky since the start.</p><p>“Are you okay?”Jaehyun scoots closer towards Yuta but keeping the safe distance.</p><p>“I…i…”Yuta shook his head.</p><p>“Hey…We don’t know what will happen. Maybe you can win. Don’t be sad. You need to smile so uh… you got sponsors…and uhh…”Jaehyun awkwardly pats Yuta’s back</p><p>Yuta stared at Jaehyun. He felt like he want to laugh because Jaehyun is so awkward. He giggles.</p><p>“Why are you laughing?”Jaehyun looked very dumbfounded.</p><p>“You are so bad at talking”Yuta smiled.</p><p>Jaehyun feel a bit relieved when Yuta finally smiled. He reached to hold Yuta’s hands. Yuta is a bit shocked so he withdraw his hands.</p><p>“You are trembling”</p><p>Yuta flushed red. He let a soft ‘oh’.</p><p>It’s a short ride from the Justice Building. Yuta have never been inside a car before. Jaehyun looks comfortable with it. Yuta stared blankly at the people who crowded the streets,going back to the respectives houses. They are probably relieved with it. Jaehyun awkwardly remembers how his parents never hugged him before he left.</p><p>Both tributes are silent on the way to the train station. They got out of the cars and stand in the doorway of the trains as hundreds of camera took their picture before they went inside.</p><p>The trains began to move very fast. Travels between districts are forbidden except for officially sanctioned duties. For District 12,it means transporting coals. But this is a high-speed train that will reach the Capitol in less than a day. The train is very fancy. Each tributes got their own chambers, dressing areas and private bathroom with hot and cold running water.</p><p>Jaehyun and Yuta retire to their chambers as Ten and Johnny are nowhere to be seen. Yuta decided to take a warm bath to clear his thoughts. He flinched as he touched the warm water. Warm waters are a rarity in District 12. There’s tons of buttons of scented-soap and shampoos.</p><p>“Is this the luxury that most of the tributes experienced on their road to death?”Yuta mumbled.</p><p>---</p><p>Jaehyun sat on his bed. He can only think of how Jisung would’ve cope back there and for Yuta to win. He didn’t want to win. He did not certainly plan to. He threw himself to the bed and blankly stare at the roofs of his bedroom.</p><p>“I’m gonna protect him. If there’s only both of us left, I’ll die. If he died then I’ll die too”</p><p>Jaehyun doesn’t feel the purpose of him winning the game. Money? Luxury? Victory tours? Becoming a mentor?</p><p>It’s torture to live without seeing Yuta. His heart sank when Yuta got called up. He felt numb. But then he got called up too. Even though he plans on volunteering if they didn’t call his name. </p><p>People would think he is a fool. But Jaehyun can’t help it when it’s Yuta. Someone who he really likes since they are little. Who he watched grew up. A little boy in the Justice Building receiving his father medal of honor.</p><p>Jaehyun chuckled when remembering Yuta always excitedly knock on his back door, offering him a bag of cherries or any berries. Those waves and smile. It is enough.</p><p>He needs to protect Yuta. Because that’s what makes him feel alive after everything.</p><p><em>“I just want you back”</em> Jisung’s voice rang at the back of his head.</p><p>Jaehyun froze.</p><p>He has two choices. Come back as victor and Yuta will be inside a casket or come back inside Capitol’s casket and leaving Jisung behind.</p>
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